Disclaimer: None of the JAG characters are mine, they belong to Donald Bellisario and CBS and whatnot.

And another chapter! I dunno why, this story is a lot easier to write than some of my others, it keeps bouncing around in my head. Go figure. Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them. And I can't really think of anything else to say so here's the chapter. Read, review, enjoy, and all that jazz.

Six hours later Mac was ready to keel over with exhaustion. She knew her ankle was going to give out any minute though the pain in the rest of her body was so familiar now she barely noticed it. As before, she'd walked in silence, ignoring all of the lieutenant's attempts to engage her in conversation. This time he'd been more persistent, but finally had shut up after close to three hours. Mac was thankful, she'd was verging on killing him as it was, if he spoke another word she wouldn't be responsible for her actions.

The sun was beginning to rise, along with the temperature. As the landscape lightened Mac paused, peering ahead. She blinked, trying to clear her vision. Finally she spoke to Vukovic, "Please tell me those are actual buildings ahead and not my imagination."

Vukovic looked up; he'd been staring at the ground for the past hour, too tired to keep his head up. He blinked also, cocking his head to the side. Disbelieving he reached up and rubbed his eyes before looking again. Slowly he broke into a delighted grin, "Yes, Colonel, I do believe it is."

"Oh thank god," Mac breathed. She redoubled her walking efforts, ignoring her ankle's protest. Vukovic kept pace next to her, eyes fixed on the welcome buildings. They were nearing the buildings when they heard a shout. Mac pulled up short, her head coming up, eyes alert. She recognized that sound, it was distinctly a Marine command. She almost thought she even recognized the voice that went with it but dismissed that idea as simply wishful thinking brought on by exhaustion.

Vukovic looked at her like she was crazy for stopping. Mac briefly considered trying to move forward but now that she had stopped she was pretty positive she wouldn't be able to take another step without collapsing, and she refused to collapse in front of the lieutenant. So she stood calmly, waiting for the marines to appear. Vukovic obviously didn't agree with the decision and with a huff turned and continued into the village. Mac smirked slightly and continued to wait.

Sure enough she saw marines taking up positions in partial cover behind the nearest buildings. She knew there were weapons trained on her but right now she really didn't care. After a moment it appeared the marines had decided they weren't hostile and one approached slowly. Vukovic stopped and waited for him, now a good thirty feet or more from Mac. The marine paused at the lieutenant then his head shifted and he looked at Mac. Though he'd been about to speak to Vukovic he suddenly turned from the lieutenant and jogged over to her, face breaking into a delighted grin.

With an expression clearly indicating his annoyance at being so summarily dismissed Vukovic followed, glowering at the marine's back. For her part Mac also broke into a grin as the man neared, "Gunny!"

"Ma'am!" Gunny stopped in front of her, "We've been looking all over for you!" Then he frowned, taking in her appearance. Slowly he glanced around, looking at Vukovic then looking around again in puzzlement. Finally he looked back at Mac, "Ma'am, why are you wearing Commander Rabb's jacket? And where is he?"

Mac's breath caught in her throat at the question, tears threatening. Without thought she pulled the jacket closer, ignoring Vukovic's stunned look as he tried to figure out what was going on. Mac spoke quietly, "He's still a prisoner, Gunny."

Gunny stared at her in disbelief, "What? Ma'am?" He couldn't understand it; Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb had been practically joined at the hip for years, why would she leave without him. For that matter, as a marine, why would she leave her partner?

Mac sensed his growing anger at her and sighed, shoving her hair back, "It wasn't by choice, Gunny." Suddenly she wobbled, her ankle abruptly giving way. Gunny grabbed her, slinging her arm around his shoulders. Rapidly he called over the radio for his men. A corporal ran up, slinging his M16 across his chest.

Gunny glanced at him, "Call in a medical helo, and then radio base camp and tell them we found Colonel MacKenzie and Lieutenant Vukovic." He glanced at Mac who was leaning heavily against him though she was currently glaring at Vukovic who had tried to step forward and support her other side. "Ma'am, are you alright?"

Vukovic snorted and muttered, "Yeah, like she'll answer that one."

Mac smiled gratefully at Gunny, "Not really."

Gunny nodded, "Ok, ma'am, let's get you inside so you can sit until the help gets here." Mac nodded wordlessly, allowing him to help him towards the nearest building while Vukovic gaped at their backs, surprised at her willingness all of a sudden to be helped. And who the hell is this guy? he thought petulantly as he followed the slow moving pair.

Once inside Mac sank down gratefully into a chair. Gunny sat next to her, watching her anxiously. Both disregarded Vukovic as he followed them in and took a seat nearby. "What happened, ma'am? Why isn't the Commander with you?" Mac felt a flash of gratitude; at least Gunny cared about Harm even if their supposed coworker didn't. She sighed, leaning back into the chair then wincing as she managed to twist her ribs wrong. Gunny immediately leaned forward, his face awash with concern, "Ma'am? Are you ok?"

Mac sighed against and shook her head slightly, "It's my ribs, I think there's a few cracked." She paused for a moment then smiled reassuringly at Gunny, "I'll be fine, Gunny, I'm not going to break, I promise." Gunny nodded, apparently reassured as he sat back into his chair, waiting for her to answer his questions on her own time. Mac took a deep breath, fingering Harm's name tapes without realizing it as she spoke, "We were on shore doing some investigative work for a case. While we were with the marines the village we were in was attacked by insurgents. One escaped and the lieutenant here decided to run after him," she waved her hand at Vukovic who frowned.

Gunny glanced over at the lieutenant with a scowl, it was clear he'd already concluded that the young lawyer was the cause of all this. He knew neither Mac nor Harm would have ever done anything to get captured like that, at least not when they were with an entire squad of marines. Vukovic cringed slightly at the scowl then cursed himself for doing so. He opted instead to simply glare back at the gunnery sergeant, trying to look intimidating and failing miserably. Shaking his head slightly Gunny turned back to Mac, waiting for her to continue.

She spoke softly, obviously reliving the events as she described them, "I yelled after him. Harm heard me, told me we had to go stop him. I agreed and we ran after him, hoping to catch him before something else happened." She paused to take a deep breath, steadying herself. "We came around some rocks and found the lieutenant already unconscious, there were at least a dozen men, all with rifles pointed at us so we lowered our weapons. They loaded us into a truck and took us… somewhere."

Gunny frowned, he was pissed that this had happened. Mostly he was pissed that it had been this fool lieutenant's fault, Harm and Mac had simply been being the people he always knew them as. He smiled internally as a thought occurred to him, and even rushing headlong into danger they were still joined at the hip. But he didn't speak out loud; he knew Mac would kick his ass if he did so. He opted to say something else, trying to get Mac to continue speaking though he wasn't sure she would, "How'd you escape?"

A faint grin appeared on Mac's face, "My guard underestimated me." Gunny chuckled; yeah he could imagine they had. It reminded him of Paraguay in a way, the people there had underestimated her also, even Webb. Mac continued her story, "I tried to get Harm out but the lock was too rusty, I couldn't get it open." She closed her eyes, letting her head drop back against the wall. Her voice was soft, a mere thread of sound. Gunny had to strain to hear her and he knew Vukovic wouldn't stand a chance of doing so, "He told me to save Vukovic, so I did."

Gunny gazed at her compassionately, Vukovic simply looked wary; he hadn't been able to hear anything past her comment about the guard underestimating her. Mac dropped her head back down and opened her eyes, gazing at Gunny. He could see the distress lurking behind the marine façade. He figured he had to be one of the few people besides Harm who could see it, and he knew the only reason he could was because he'd experienced that same feeling himself in Paraguay. Quietly she murmured, lowering her head to her hands, her words intended for Gunny alone, "I tried to save him, Gunny, I tried."

Gunny nodded, awkwardly patting her on the back. He replied, his own voice just as soft, "I know, Colonel." Vukovic frowned at the two of them. He opened his mouth to demand to know just what was going on but was interrupted by the sound of an approaching helicopter. Mac lifted her head, looking questioningly at Gunny. He smiled and rose, "Should be the medical helo, ma'am."

Sure enough his radio crackled to life, informing him that the helo had arrived and was preparing to set down. Gunny held out a hand to help Mac up, which she accepted gratefully. Helping her to his feet he once again slid her arm around his shoulder, supporting her since her ankle couldn't. Gunny waved for Vukovic to exit first, not much caring about proper enlisted/officer proprieties, out here they were a formality that was often ignored if necessary.

Vukovic shot one more wary glance at the colonel before exiting the building, heading for the helicopter that was currently landing. Mac and Gunny followed at a much slower pace. Gunny looked over at her, "Ma'am, are you sure you'll be ok?"

Mac sighed then shook her head, "No, I won't be until we get Harm back."

"We'll keep looking for him, I promise."

Mac smiled sadly, "Thanks, Gunny."

"Anytime, ma'am, the commander's my friend too, after all."

Softly she answered, "I know." They'd reached the helo and Mac looked at Gunny one last time. "I'll be back as soon as I can to help find him, Gunny," her voice was firm with determination.

Gunny nodded and grinned slightly, "Hopefully we'll find him before then. But if we don't, we'll welcome your help, ma'am."

"Thanks for everything, Gunny." Mac leaned over and hugged him, after a brief moment of surprise he returned the hug. She smiled one last time then turned and grabbed the hand of the man waiting to help her inside. Gunny stepped back and watched the helo lift off, silently vowing to do everything he could to find the Commander and bring him back to her safely.

Mac sat on the opposite side of the helo from Vukovic for the duration of the flight. Though, even if she'd wanted to, the corpsmen wouldn't have let her sit any closer anyways. They were trying to keep room around both lawyers so they could check over injuries. One looked up at Mac after inspecting her ankle and frowned sympathetically, "I'm pretty sure it's broken, ma'am. Looks like it was strained but walking on it for so long did a lot of extra damage. But we won't know for sure until we can do some x-rays."

Mac nodded slightly, half awake, now that they were out of immediate danger the events of the past few days were catching up to her and she was exhausted. Quietly she murmured, the corpsman having to leave over to hear her, "Thank you, petty officer. How's the lieutenant?"

The petty officer grinned, "Better off than you, ma'am, no offense. Just a couple of cracked ribs and some bumps and bruises."

Mac nodded again, slowly drifting off to sleep. She'd only been asleep for a few minutes when she woke with a start. Blinking she found the corpsmen and Vukovic watching her in concern. She frowned and sighed, answering the unspoken questions curtly, "Nightmare."

The petty officer who'd been tending her smiled sympathetically, "I can give you some medicine when we arrive that should help you sleep, ma'am."

"I might take you up on that, petty officer," she smiled faintly. He nodded then lapsed back into silence, not wishing to bother the lieutenant colonel. Mac sighed softly and decided to stare out the window instead; it was infinitely preferable to nightmares. Fortunately the flight only lasted a short while longer. Glancing at Vukovic she realized that at some point he had fallen asleep, only he didn't seem bothered by bad dreams. Sighing, slightly envious she rose, grabbing the crutches the corpsman offered.

Stepping out of the helo she glanced around, noting that they had landed at an in country US base. Seeing a few marines walking around, she relaxed slightly, feeling more comfortable by the minute as she noted members of both the Air Force and Army present also. Moving a short distance from the helo she turned to watch Vukovic get out, the corpsmen hopping out after him. A voice spoke nearby and she whipped her head around, taking in the appearance of a young second lieutenant, "Ma'am? If you'll allow me I'll show you the way to medical."

Mac nodded in agreement, following as rapidly as her crutches would let her. Vukovic trailed along behind her, studying the base intently. The ensign stopped at the door to the medical building and opened the door for the two other officers. "They're expecting you both."

Mac glanced over at him with a slight smile, "Thank you lieutenant."

He nodded and saluted, "Colonel, Lieutenant." Mac returned the salute and watched in bemusement as the young man walked off. Shaking off her reverie as Vukovic cleared his throat she turned and entered the building, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the change in lighting.

Almost immediately a marine captain in medical uniform appeared at her elbow, "Lieutenant Colonel MacKenzie?"

Mac nodded, "Yes."

The woman smiled then looked over at Vukovic, "Lieutenant Vukovic?"

He glanced over at her, apparently vaguely surprised, "Yes?"

"Great. Lieutenant, if you'll go over and see the petty officer right over there," she pointed to a young man standing about twenty feet away by one of the beds. Vukovic nodded and headed over, still glancing periodically around the room. The captain looked at Mac again, "And Colonel if you'll come with me."

She turned and headed deeper into the room, Mac close on her heels. The exited the main room and entered a second, smaller, one. The captain turned and indicated that Mac should sit down on a nearby chair. "I'm Doctor Marks. Petty Officer Phillips informs me that your ankle is probably broken?"

"Yes."

"Ok, first we're going to start with an x-ray of the ankle and then one of your chest if that's ok?"

"That's fine."

Doctor Marks nodded then left to get a few things. Mac sighed and let her head fall back against the wall. Yay, doctor's visit, what fun, she thought. The doctor returned almost immediately, "Ok, let's get started."